Swansea hosts week-long celebration of para sports

A week-long Para Sport Festival gets underway in Swansea next week, offering the opportunity for people of all ages and all abilities to try out some of the more than 20 sports on offer

The festival starts on Monday 1 August and featured sports include athletics, boccia, bowls, cricket, golf, karate, rowing, rugby, target shooting, tennis, and wheelchair rugby.

The festival is open to disabled and non-disabled people aged 5 and over and on the opening day top coaches from Disability Sport Wales and various National Governing Bodies will be on hand to give advice.

Paralympian Beth Munro attended a similar event in the north of Wales to try taekwondo for the first time in 2019 and 18 months later won a silver medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo last summer.

“I’m very proud to support the Para Sport Festival as a role model,” says Beth.

“I want young people to believe that they have the ability, not the disability, to do well in these sports.

“Any disabled individual just needs to take the opportunity and think that dreams are possible, because I am living proof that they are.”

World champions

Later in the week, the Deaf Rugby Sevens: Wales v Home Nations competition takes place at the St Helen Rugby and Cricket Ground, the first tournament for the newly-formed Welsh Women’s squad.

Friday’s event will also form part of the WRU’s preparations for the World Deaf 7s Championship in Cordoba Argentina next year, where the men team will defend the title they won in Sydney in 2018.

The inaugural Wheelchair Rugby Welsh Open takes place on Saturday 6 August, with four clubs competing n the WR5s tournament – the Newport Dragons and Ospreys representing the south of Wales, RGC representing North Wales and from England the Tiger Seals, which is made up of players from Help 4 Heroes and Leicester Tigers.

The tournament takes place in the Main Hall, LC Swansea.

Kyran Bishop, the current Ospreys Wheelchair Rugby Player of the Year, who is participating on Saturday, said: “I eat sleep and breath wheelchair rugby.

“It’s been life-changing for me in so many ways and I have dreams of being a Paralympian one day.”

Triathlon

The Volvo 2022 World Triathlon Para Series Swansea also takes place on Saturday – where the best paratriathletes in the world will battle it out in the UKs first standalone paratriathlon race of this level.

The event will be based at the SA1 Waterfront – where the start, finish, transition area and the event village will be located.

Participants for the opening day can register here – it’s completely free and everyone who takes part will receive a goodie bag from insport Series partners SPAR.

The festival’s full programme is:

Monday 1 August

insport Series Swansea University (Singleton Campus) Over 20 different sports to try, delivered by local insport Clubs and National Governing Bodies of Sport – including: athletics, boccia, bowls, cricket, golf, karate, rowing, rugby, target shooting, tennis, wheelchair rugby and much more.

Tuesday 2 August

insport Series: Swim, Bike, Run, Penlan Leisure Centre

Para Sport Festival Target Shooting: Air Rifle and Air Pistol (Day 1), Swansea Tennis Centre

Wednesday 3 August

Para Sport Festival Target Shooting: Air Rifle and Air Pistol (Day 2), Swansea Tennis Centre

Thursday 4 August

Para Sport Festival Target Shooting: Smallbore rifle 50m, prone competition, Swansea Rifle Club

Friday 5 August

Deaf Rugby Sevens: Wales v Home Nations, St Helen’s Rugby and Cricket Ground, Swansea

Saturday 6 August

Wheelchair Rugby Welsh Open, Main Hall, LC Swansea

GO TRI Disability Aquathlon Swansea

2022 British Triathlon Paratri Super Series Swansea

Volvo 2022 World Triathlon Para Series Swansea, SA1 Waterfront

Sunday 7 August

Indoor Rowing Welsh Para Open, Main Hall, LC Swansea

IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea